FERS retirement

Q. I recently sent out a 3108 form to see if my time in the federal government can be repaid. I worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1983 to 1984 and the U.S. Postal Service from 1985 to 1988. Since most of that time was spent in the old CSRS Retirement System, I was told by Human Resources that this would count toward my annuity if I buy back my time and if I had in fact paid FICA during the times in question. Is this true?

A. If retirement deductions were taken from your pay during those years, you would automatically receive credit for it; however, if only Social Security deductions were taken out, you’d have to make a deposit to the retirement system for that period of service to get credit for it.